Category Archives: Picture Book Projects

Ducky Discovery

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What if you discover a duck in your fridge? What if you discover ducks all over your HOUSE? With this easy printable project and hilarious picture book, you can do just that!

We read Duck in the Fridge by Jeff Mack (Two Lions, 2014). When a little boy asks his Dad a bedtime question about a Mother Goose book, Dad recalls the time he was a kid and found a duck in the fridge. And how more ducks begin appearing in various rooms of the house. The crowd quickly expands to include sheep, dogs, cows…until NO ONE is getting any sleep! Finally, clever Dad contrives to read Mother Goose, which does the trick. Don’t miss the final page of the book. It will make you laugh out loud!

You’ll need:

  • A ducky discovery template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ paper
  • A couple toilet paper or paper towel tubes
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

Color and cut the ducks from the template, then tape them to snippets of toilet paper or paper towel tubes so they stand upright. Then hide the ducks in various parts of your house and wait for them to be discovered! Duck in the Closet…

Duck on the Pillow…

Duck in the Tub…

Annnnnnd Duck in the Studio (look carefully!)…

A Bounty of Bunnies!

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It’s a bounty of bunnies bunnies bunnies in a basket basket basket! This simple project is both a hide and seek AND pattern game! Plus…rainbow bunnies. Rainbow bunnies are just awesome.

We read The Runaway Bunny, written by Margaret Wise Brown, and illustrated by Clement Hurd (HarperCollins, 1942). A little bunny poses a series of runaway-from-home scenarios, thwarted each time by his equally imaginative mother!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large tissue box
  • White poster board or card stock
  • 6 toilet paper tubes
  • A selection of construction paper
  • Scissors, stapler and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

First, the bunny basket.Cut the top off a large tissue box, then add a poster board handle and some construction paper ears, eyes, nose, and tail. Your bunnies are toilet paper tubes wrapped with construction paper. Six bunnies, six rainbow colors!

To play the hide and seek game, have a grown up or older sibling hide the little bunnies around the house. Then, ask your story time kid to find them and tuck them into the big bunny basket. For a pattern game variation, cut color cards out of construction paper, then shuffle them and ask your child to find the bunnies in the order of the color cards!

The Runaway Bunny was selected by a little girl who aged out of our Tiger Tales story time. It’s a big favorite of hers, so Emmalyn…this project is for you!

The Best Baguette Bakery

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the best bagette bakery

Bake a bounty of beautiful baguettes at this fantastic little bakery. Poofy baker’s hat optional, but it does add that professional touch, yes?

We read Nanette’s Baguette by Mo Willems (Hyperion, 2016). Little Nanette has a big job. She must journey to the bakery – all by herself – buy a baguette, and bring in home. Everything goes well, despite a few distractions (friends Suzette, Bret, and Mr. Barnett with his pet, Antoinette). But the baguette looks so tasty. It’s warm. It smells so good…Nanette takes a bite, then another, then another. Oh no! It’s gone! A tearful Nanette reports to her mother, but this problem is easily solved. They can go and buy another one, together. And eat it!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large box
  • A box cutter
  • A selection of construction paper
  • 1 bakery sign template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
  • 1 paper or plastic sample cup
  • Modeling clay
  • Scissors, glue and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating

side view of bakery

We used a 4.5” X 4.5” x 9” craft box for our bakery (but a large tissue box works too!). Trim and fold the box’s lid to form a peaked roof. Then use a box cutter to create a rectangular window for the bakery. If you’d like an awning, cut just three sides of the rectangular window, then bend the resulting flap upwards to create the awning.

Decorate the bakery with construction paper and markers. We offered color masking tape as well. Color and cut a bakery sign from the template, then attach to your roof. Finally, cut a rectangle out of the back of the bakery…

back of bakeryAnd use the resulting cardboard to make a countertop for your bakery. Hot glue it to a cut-down paper cup or plastic sample cup, then place the counter outside your bakery window. Use modeling clay (we used air dry Model Magic) to fashion some little baguettes.

baguette counterThe final touch is a baker’s hat, and you will find the supply list and instructions for it here!

bakers hat